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3D printing, or additive manufacturing, isn’t just for jewelry and electronics anymore. It has, in fact, made the leap from laboratory to operating room. That’s right, surgeons are beginning to utilize the dynamic new technology to assist them, and their patients, in surgery. In fact, 3D printing provides medical tools that no other technology can even come close to matching.

Implants and Prosthetics

3D printing almost seems custom made for producing individualized implants and prosthetics. Orthotics was one of the first areas to open its arms to additive manufacturing, with reconstructed bones already becoming a popular order. However, doctors are now realizing its potential for the replacement of even major organs.

Measuring Twice And Cutting Once

A Japanese surgeon was recently able to perfectly fit an adult’s donated liver into a small child after printing an exact 3D model to discover precisely what incisions would need to be made. A number of oral surgeons have already become comfortable with utilizing 3D printed replicas of their patient’s mouths to guide just where implants should ideally be placed. By utilizing detailed images such as CT scans, models of previously unheard of accuracy can be created. Using these models, doctors can then evaluate the ideal surgical approaches.

The Perfect Teaching Aid

Models of organs made partly of polyvinyl alcohol even have a realistic texture. With such impressive details, 3D printed medical tools are providing the ideal teaching aid for new doctors. Now, simulated procedures using the new printed models will provide an unparalleled sensory experience, more closely approximating what they’ll experience with a real patient.

These unique tools of medicine, thanks to 3d printing technology, have the potential to save and improve countless lives. Whether fully integrated into a patient’s own body, guiding a surgeon’s decisions in the operating room, or preparing new doctors for the surgical arena, this new science is heralding a new age of medical advancement.